Scars
by theprofessormordinsolus
Summary: "You are the most beautiful woman in the world." If only she could believe it. Seamus/Lavender


The soft rays of the morning sun gently caressed her skin as she lay in the grass, staring up at the sky. She breathed slowly, blinked every few seconds and sometimes, she would even smile. If you looked closely at her, you would see the battle scars on her arms, legs and face. Some would think that she looks absolutely disgusting, that she should use some spell to make the scars disappear. But, she doesn't want to. She used to, though. She used to hate looking in the mirror every morning and seeing those horrible, pale scars on her cheeks and arms. She hated the very sight of herself.

She doesn't mind the scars so much anymore, now. Someone once told her that scars tell stories, and to hide even just one of them was like skipping a chapter in an exciting novel. Scars aren't something to be ashamed of, but something to be proud to have. They're a sign that you've faced a hardship, and you've lived to tell about it.

When she looks in the mirror these days, she takes a moment to study her scars and remember how and why she received them. She can still remember that night as if it were only yesterday...

_Everyone was frantic. The Death Eaters were attacking the school. Spell after spell, they tossed at the protective shield around the school. With each spell, the shield weakened, until finally, it was gone. The screams...they haunt her dreams. So many of her friends were killed right in front of her eyes. She ran searching for a place to hide. She knew she could never go up against a Death Eater. She would surely die. She searched, and searched, running until her legs burned. She was almost safe when she felt her legs being pulled out from under her._

_She landed on the ground roughly. Dots appeared in her vision as she moved to sit up. She found that she couldn't, though. Something was pinning her to the hard, cold, stone floor. She screamed and struggled, but it seemed like it didn't matter. Whatever was pinning her was too strong for her to move. When her vision cleared enough for her to see what had her pinned to the ground, she almost wished that she still couldn't see. _

_Pinning her to the floor was what looked like a man with a sort of canine face. He was very hairy. His teeth were sharp. His eyes glowed in the darkness of the corridor. Her heart beat incredibly fast. Her chest heaved, as she struggled to breathe. Terror rippled throughout her body as she stared wide-eyed up at the beastman. He snarled, glaring down at her malignantly. The next fifteen minutes was filled with agonizing pain as the beastman bit her, clawed at her arms, legs and abdomen and finally scratched her cheek with his sharpened finger nails. She screamed. Oh, god, she screamed. She screamed and screamed, hoping that someone would hear her, that someone would help her. _

_But no one ever came._

She hates remembering that night. That night was the night she lost all of her childlike innocence. Not only did the beastman bite her-giving her symptoms of a werewolf-he also took something so precious. He took what she had been waiting to give to her husband. That stupid, stupid, Death Eater.

For months after the Battle of Hogwarts, she could barely move. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to laugh or smile. She just wanted to die. But...but none of her remaining friends would let her give up. Especially Seamus. He was probably the only one who could get her to speak. It too awhile for him to even accomplish that. However, he did achieve it. And soon, Lavender Brown was speaking again.

The more time that she spent with Seamus, the easier it was for her to smile and laugh and forget for just awhile what happened to her. He was with her when she first stepped off of the infirmary bed almost two months after the Battle. He was with her when she looked into the mirror for the first time. Lavender was numb when she looked into the mirror. She wasn't even sure that what she was looking at was real. She soon realized that it was. She remembers calling herself ugly, disfigured, marred and disgusting. Seamus scolded her then.

He said, "Lavender Brown, don't ya say that. You're the most beautiful woman in the world."

She didn't believe him though. Nor did she believe it that other twenty times he repeated those words. In her eyes, she was ugly and there was nothing that anyone could ever say that would change her mind. But, he kept repeating it, over and over again.

One the first year anniversary of the Battle, Seamus invited her to go out for drinks with him, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Dean, Luna, Neville and a few other people. She was horrified that he even asked. She had stayed out of sight for a year. The only two people who ever saw her was Madame Pomfrey and Seamus. Lavender couldn't have anyone else see her ugly scars. She declined his invitation. However, Seamus is Irish. The Irish are known for being particularly stubborn.

Lavender was forced to go out for a drink with the lot of them.

_Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest and followed Seamus into the Three Broomsticks. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. She was doing good just talking with Seamus. She doesn't know if she could endure the gazes of eight or more people. She knew that they would stare at her with pity._

_The Three Broomsticks was especially crowded this evening. Lavender tried to stay close to Seamus as they weaved their way through the crowd and to a table in the back where her old friends were all sitting at. For a moment, she was unsure of herself. What would they think of her? She had changed in the past couple years. She wasn't that happy, air-headed girl she was back in sixth year. Would they think that she was pathetic? _

"_Seamus," she hissed quietly at the Irishman. He turned towards her, his brow raised in question. "I don't think I can do this. What if...what if they're disgusted?"_

_He took two steps towards, grabbed her hands in his and smiled slightly. "Lavender Brown, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. If they can't see that, they aren't worth it."_

_She frowned and looked at the floor. She still didn't believe him. No matter how many times he said it, she just couldn't herself believe those words. Seamus released one of her hands, and gently lifted her chin so she was looking into his face._

"_Lavender, don't ya trust me?" _

_She paused a moment before nodding in affirmation. _

"_Then trust me when I say that you are the most beautiful woman in the world, alright?" he grinned. He then proceeded to drag her to the table their friends were at, much to her protest. _

Seamus was right. The others didn't look at her in disgust, nor pity. They were happy to see her. Hermione Granger even surprised Lavender when she hugged her. That night made her forget everything for a little while.

As the months passed, Lavender spent more time with Seamus and the others. She grew comfortable being seen by them, even with her scars showing. No one ever said a word about her scars unless she brought them up. Life was great. She was finally moving on. She even went looking for a job. However, even though her friends didn't stare at her scars or look at her with pity, it didn't mean the rest of the world wouldn't.

On her first day at work, a little child was in the shop with her mother, looking for a dress. When the little girl saw Lavender, her eyes grew wide as she pulled on her mother's sleeve and pointed at her. The little girl's mother apologized, but the damage had already been done.

Lavender went home and cried that night. She refused to answer her door when Seamus came over, forcing him to unlock it himself. He searched her whole flat until her found her, lying on her bedroom floor, curled in a ball as she wept. Lavender felt embarrassed the next morning when she woke up lying in her bed next to Seamus, curled into his chest.

Seamus had held her the whole night, comforting her, whispering to her over and over that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He had wiped away every tear that had fallen and shushed all of her whimpers. Lavender was almost afraid to face him.

But she did face him. He was her best friend, after all. Best friends cried in front of each other all the time, right? So, she had no reason to be embarrassed that morning...however, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself from feeling shame. She shouldn't have cried. It was only one small child. Lavender shouldn't have let it get to her.

Over the next two years, Lavender would grow accustomed to the stares, the finger pointing and the whispers. Seamus was always there when she needed someone to listen to her. And as the months passed, she felt herself beginning to have feelings for him. She swore to herself that she wouldn't tell him. She didn't want to ruin their friendship. Their friendship was strong. So, she kept her feelings for him a secret. The months passed slowly. With each month, her feelings grew more intense until one spring afternoon she realized, she was in love with him.

It's scary, being in love. Especially when you're in love with your best friend. She was always afraid she'd say something wrong and he'd find out.

Lavender kept this secret safe for almost a year before it was found out. She came home from work one evening to find her flat was decorated with candles, carnations (her favorite flowers) and on her dining table a dinner was laid out prepared. But before she saw any of this, she saw Seamus standing in an apron, flour on his face and hands. He was grinning sheepishly, scratching the back of his head...

_She blinked in mild surprise when she saw her best friend standing in her kitchen/dining room, covered from head to toe in flour and Merlin knows what else. He grinned, looking as if he was caught taking a cookie from the cookie jar. _

"_Oh, hey, Lav!" he exclaimed, hurrying over to hug her. In her surprise, she didn't care that he was covered in flour. "I didn't know ya were going to be home so soon."_

"_Hi, Seamus," she greeted him once he had released her from his embrace. "What's-what's the occasion?"_

"_It's your birthday, remember?"_

_Lavender thought for a moment before realizing that it was her birthday. How had she forgotten this? She never forgets her own birthday._

"_There was also something that I wanted to tell you," he said after a moment. Lavender looked at him for a moment, trying to see if she could find what he wanted to tell her. However, he was unreadable, so she settled with waiting until he was ready to tell her._

"_Okay..."_

Seamus confessed to her that night that he was in love with her, had been for years. He didn't care if she didn't feel the same way, he just needed to get it out. He needed to tell her. Imagine his surprise when Lavender began to cry.

The two didn't bother with dating. Lavender never was any good at dating, you see. Seamus proposed right then and there, on the floor of her flat. He had no ring, at the time, but Lavender said yes anyway. When they told their friends of their engagement, none of them seemed all that surprised. In fact, they seemed rather happy at this news.

Seamus and Lavender married six months later. The wedding was small and out doors. Her dress was simple, not extravagant like she had once wanted. She was happy with the simple dress and the fifty guests. It didn't matter to her if she had a large wedding. Not anymore.

_On their wedding night, Lavender was nervous. She was scared that Seamus wouldn't want her anymore after he'd seen all her scars. However, he only smiled when he saw her. He kissed every scar and whispered in her ear, "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Mrs. Finnegan."_

And she believed him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Hi, there! So, this is my first time ever writing this pairing and I have to admit; I'm kind of in love with it. I hope that this wasn't too jumpy. Anyway, can you tell me if it was any good? Should I write a full story for it?_

_**Peace out!**_

-_Lament_

**_Edit:_**_ I've now started a multi-chapter story based off of "Scars", if any of you are interested in reading it. _


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